national organization of minority architects

Five questions for David Lee FAIA

On October 7, at its national conference in Boston, the National Organization of Minority Architects honors Stull and Lee with a lifetime achievement for the firm’s work in architecture and advocacy.

The BSA recently spoke to David Lee FAIA—a partner of Stull and Lee, a past BSA president and its 2000 Award of Honor recipient—about his favorite and current projects, the economy and his love of music.

Which of your projects are you the most proud of?

Ever the optimist, whenever I’m asked that question, I want to say, “My next one.” When piano player Keith Jarrett one night asked Miles Davis why he didn’t perform his familiar ballads more often, Miles famously replied, in his raspy voice, “Because I love them too much.” Miles was always exploring and challenging himself to do something else. I’d like to think I have that gene—that I could always do something better. But in terms of what’s done, there are two projects.

On the urban-design scale, there’s the Southwest Corridor transit project. As coordinating architects and urban designers, we conceived the notion of creating a linear park that would link important sites along the way and evolve over time. It’s a real jewel, and I’m proud of what it has done to stimulate development and revive several neighborhoods that had gone into decline because of the uncertainty around the originally proposed highway project.

I’m also proud of our collaboration with William Rawn Associates on a mixed-use building at Northeastern [University] called Building F. We were responsible for the design of the John D. O’Bryant African-American Institute, which, for many years, had been a major gathering place for Northeastern students of color. We created a visually distinct identity with some very iconic features for the institute, while working with Bill to make sure it all worked together as a total composition. The university uses many of those facilities for general classrooms, so now African-American and other students of other ethnic descents used to being in classrooms dominated by Western-civilization imagery get to spend time in meeting rooms and computer rooms that are visually related to Cape Verdean, African and African-American themes as well.

What are you working on right now?

Locally, we have teamed up with GUND Partnership to work with principal developers Elma Lewis Partners on a site near Ruggles Station. Elma Lewis was an important African-American cultural figure in Boston, and we’ll be working on a mixed-use development that includes retail and office space, as well as a museum and cultural center that is a continuation of her work.

It’s been such a difficult last few years for architects at all stages of their careers. Have you ever thought about leaving the profession?

When I first got to college and discovered advertising design and industrial design, I thought, That’s pretty cool. And Mad Men has only reinforced the appeal of the creative side of advertising.

Another time that comes to mind is one day much later in my career. I was now a firm principal in Boston, and it was raining and miserable outside. I had been asked to consider applying for the deanship of the University of Southern California, and I remember looking out the window and thinking, If I could quit this job, I would. But as the boss, that’s hard to do.

On a more serious note, I will say that I never expected at this point of my career to be challenged in the ways that we are. The competition is fierce. People are slashing fees and providing free services. Big firms are going after jobs they never would have chased in the past. It’s ugly.

Having taught at the Harvard GSD, MIT and RISD, I know how hard architecture students work and how much it costs them to get through school. So to see them graduate and not be able to find a job is so painful. And it’s just as painful to see talented professionals with lots of energy and experience—never mind families to support—also struggling.

I have to admit I am frustrated with the Obama administration, as much as I support him and what he said he was going to do. The fact that they have not stood their ground on using the infrastructure spending to help the country as a whole is really disappointing. I don’t think we are going to look back 30 years from now and see anything that compares to national achievements like the Hoover Dam, the Merritt Parkway or some of the other wonderful WPA-era buildings.

What should the BSA be using ArchitectureBoston to talk about right now?

Job creation.

One of my colleagues while I was teaching at the GSD was Margaret Crawford, who did a studio once where she challenged the students and the City of Cambridge to come up with 100 good ideas around urban-design issues.

Given that the BSA is 143 years old, let’s ask for 143 creative ideas to get architects back to work. The ideas should be double-bottom-line approaches, so there are social and economic benefits as well as design benefits. Who wouldn’t be compelled to submit something worthy of making that list of wonderful projects that would get people working and celebrate what we are capable of achieving?

We know you love music. What are you listening to on your iPod these days?

I heard Allen Toussaint interviewed on NPR and downloaded his stuff right away. I’m about to meet up with some high school buddies to descend on New York City. As we were emailing back and forth, I was listening to “Jelly, Jelly” by Billy Eckstine and the Count Basie Orchestra, and its big-band thing sounded so good to me, I told them that’s my pick hit for the day. My favorite recent album, which is just a great grown-up album, is by Joe Sample and Randy Crawford. It’s called Feeling Good, and it’s just a most amazing and beautiful album.

Genevieve Rajewski is a Boston-based freelance writer who covers science, nature, animal issues, travel, food and passionate people for acclaimed publications such as Smithsonian, Washington Post Magazine, Wired.com and The Boston Globe. Her website is genevieverajewski.com.